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Desks come in many varieties and styles and can be made from many different materials. But with a few exceptions, they all share the same basic elements. From bottom to top, these are made up of the “base”, “rod” and “top”.
The base
The base of a music stand will most often have three legs and will be either a tri-pod or a standard fixed-base design. A tri-pod base attaches the top of the legs to the rod halfway up the ground, with three lower contact points on the ground. These types of legs are almost always bendable or bendable. Virtually all foldable and portable sheet music stands are designed this way. A stand with a standard base will often also have three points of contact on the ground, but the other end of the legs will usually be steel welded to the bottom of the tree. This will give the rack more stability, but will sacrifice the rack’s ability to easily fold into a smaller space for more convenient transport. Most of the stands found in schools are of this type.
The tree
The central part of the desk, which connects the base to the top, is the rod. If the stand is adjustable in height, it is most likely that the tree will have two tubes, one inside the other. These tubes will telescope and then lock at the desired height. If a bracket has a standard base then it is most likely that the rod is of a “one-piece” design. In other words, the outer tube will be in one piece and will not collapse to a height less than the minimum clearance height. If a stand has a tri-pod base, then it can have a one, two or three piece (or more) rod. Multi-piece trees will either telescope down to a very small size for ease of transport, or the pieces will come apart and thus take up much less space side by side. Understandably, the one-piece tree is considered the strongest, however, foldable and portable pulpit shafts have gotten much stronger in recent years.
The tray
The part of a sheet music holder that actually contains the music is commonly referred to as the platter or “desk”. The board consists mainly of two parts. The vertical stand is called an “bookplate,” and is usually either a single solid piece or is constructed from several interconnecting bars that have spaces between them (as with folding stands). The horizontal support (which prevents the partition from falling to the floor) is called a “shelf” or “lip”. The average depth of a shelf is about two inches, but this can vary depending on the intended use of the rack. If a musician intends to read music from books, for example, a stand with a deeper shelf would be needed. The shelf usually comes in the form of a single attached piece or two pieces that fold together in the middle. The entire tabletop (bookplate plus shelf) may or may not be adjustable for tilt angle, and vary in size and strength.
Score stand differences
These are the basic building blocks of the vast majority of desks you will come across. Most of the exceptions will be in favor of artistic design and will come from stands that are very beautiful, but sometimes difficult to transport. Some examples include music stands with solid bases (without legs), double-necked stands, and jazz or “big band” style cardboard stands. And since there are a myriad of sheet music stand models out there, it helps to understand the basic operation of one of the most important equipment a musician will use for two reasons. Developing your general musical knowledge is always important; and familiarizing yourself with these specific terms will allow you to better compare different mediums for your own musical needs.
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